FoodMan

Wednesday: A sort of Reuben sandwich on homemade onion rye (corned beef, mustard, saurkraut, swiss). The onion rye came out so damn good that any deli would be proud to have it. I made it without caraway seeds this time, next time I might add a few...just a few. Served it with mediocre chips (that I did not eat) and a great Dogfish Head IPA. Las night: A Sunday dinner on Thursday ! Brined roasted chicken and a summer Parisienne herb gnocchi (sp?) with squash, toamtoes and sweet corn. Topped the chicken with a lemon butter sauce (chicken drippings, stock, lemon and a little butter whisked in). The recipes are based on ones from the Bouchon book and all are awsome. Dessert: A Fig almond tart with lighlty sweetened (with vanilla sugar) creme fraiche. Elie

You could download a photo of the dish off the web and print it on an edible card Smithy, sea bass would be a good fish to use, but I think any white-fleshed fish would give decent results. Frankly, it would be a completely different dish but I bet tuna steaks with a tahini sauce would be quite nice. I haven't made it yet because, frankly, I don't think I'll be able to face Lebanese food for another few months...I might be interested in trying the Charles Perry verison though. It is so interesting to see where these dishes come from. ← I recommended several types of fish in a previuous post, but any type of firm white fish should be ok I would think. I have used fresh sea bass before and it works great. I personally would not use tuna, it just does not sound right and it will most certainly be a totally different dish. I think Nadia's extended exposure to Lebanese food over the past month or so might have skewed her judgement, and she is really trying hard to avoid it by recommneding a Japanese-Lebanese hybrid . Elie

Please let us keep this thread on topic, discussing the actual dish and hopefully making it at home and posting the recipes for the dish as each of us know it. Anymore discussion of the meaning of the word "Tari" or what an author in the 14th century must've meant by it will be removed, since it will serve no useful purpose anymore but derail this thread! Thanks, Elie

This article in today's NYT, deals more with Iberico rather than Sichuan peppers. Elie

I just added the recipe for Middle Eastern Milk ice cream that I made this week. Check it out here So far this is my best attempt at to make this wonderful concoction. This is a photo of the just churned ice cream: and here it is served after a good 24 hours in the freezer (sorry for the poor lighting), still perfectly scoopable: For those of you who have never had this type of ice cream, it is rich and chewy and very flavorful. The main problem with making it here is the problem of getting real Salep (Sahlab as it is known in Arabic), a type of dried and ground up root. If you enjoy the flavors of mastic (NOT gum arabic), orange blossom water and rose water I guarantee you will love this recipe though. I am thinking about trying to make it using the packaged Salep mix you find at middle eastern groceries and see if it works out. I am not too hopeful though.... Elie

Middle Eastern Milk Ice Cream Serves 6 as Dessert. This is my best attempt to make the type of ice cream popular in the middle east, specifically Lebanon. The real deal has a nice chewy texture and is flavored with Salep (sahlab), mastic gum and orange blossom water. It also contains no eggs. Unfortunatly real Salep (a type of root that is dried and ground up) is not very available and is expensive. This version, while not as good as the real stuff, is excellent with a wonderful flavor and great texture. Serve it topped with lots of crushed pistachios or almonds. Note: Mastic Gum, NOT to be confused with gum arabic, has a very distinctive taste and is available at middle eastern grocery stores. It is VERY sticky when melted so add and stir with the handle of a spoon and then wash the spoon right away. Use a clean spice grinder to grind it along with some sugar to help it not stick. You can also do it between two pieces of wax paper and a mallet. 2 c Whole milk 2 c Heavy cream 2 Egg yolks 2 Eggs 1 c Sugar 5 Granules of Mastic Gum, pulverized with 2 T sugar 2 T Rose water 4 T Orange blossom water toasted chopped pistachios or almonds for topping - Heat the milk and cream in a sauce pot on medium until the mixture reaches a boil. - In a bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar until light in color. - Continue whisking the eggs and sugar and pour 1 cup of the milk mixture in a thin stream about 1/2 cup at a time to temper the egg mixture. - Return the egg/milk mixture back into the pot that has the rest of the milk and cream. Heat on medium heat stirring all the time until it reaches 175F on a thermometer or until thick but not boiling. - Transfer the custard to a clean bowl through a sieve. Sprinkle the mastic gum all over the surface (NEVER in one spot or it will clump), add the rose water and orange blossom water and stir to combine. Taste and adjust by adding more of the aromatic waters if you need to. - Cool the mixture in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled (5-6 hours or more). Churn it in your ice cream maker and serve right away or after freezing for a few hours topped with the nuts. This ice cream remains nice and soft even after freezing. Keywords: Dessert, Middle Eastern, Vegetarian, Ice Cream Maker, Intermediate, Ice Cream ( RG1362 )

Middle Eastern Milk Ice Cream Serves 6 as Dessert. This is my best attempt to make the type of ice cream popular in the middle east, specifically Lebanon. The real deal has a nice chewy texture and is flavored with Salep (sahlab), mastic gum and orange blossom water. It also contains no eggs. Unfortunatly real Salep (a type of root that is dried and ground up) is not very available and is expensive. This version, while not as good as the real stuff, is excellent with a wonderful flavor and great texture. Serve it topped with lots of crushed pistachios or almonds. Note: Mastic Gum, NOT to be confused with gum arabic, has a very distinctive taste and is available at middle eastern grocery stores. It is VERY sticky when melted so add and stir with the handle of a spoon and then wash the spoon right away. Use a clean spice grinder to grind it along with some sugar to help it not stick. You can also do it between two pieces of wax paper and a mallet. 2 c Whole milk 2 c Heavy cream 2 Egg yolks 2 Eggs 1 c Sugar 5 Granules of Mastic Gum, pulverized with 2 T sugar 2 T Rose water 4 T Orange blossom water toasted chopped pistachios or almonds for topping - Heat the milk and cream in a sauce pot on medium until the mixture reaches a boil. - In a bowl whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar until light in color. - Continue whisking the eggs and sugar and pour 1 cup of the milk mixture in a thin stream about 1/2 cup at a time to temper the egg mixture. - Return the egg/milk mixture back into the pot that has the rest of the milk and cream. Heat on medium heat stirring all the time until it reaches 175F on a thermometer or until thick but not boiling. - Transfer the custard to a clean bowl through a sieve. Sprinkle the mastic gum all over the surface (NEVER in one spot or it will clump), add the rose water and orange blossom water and stir to combine. Taste and adjust by adding more of the aromatic waters if you need to. - Cool the mixture in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled (5-6 hours or more). Churn it in your ice cream maker and serve right away or after freezing for a few hours topped with the nuts. This ice cream remains nice and soft even after freezing. Keywords: Dessert, Middle Eastern, Vegetarian, Ice Cream Maker, Intermediate, Ice Cream ( RG1362 )

Almass- Your logic makes sense, and you could be right. However, we have to agree to disagree at this point. I still believe he means fresh fish and since he is not with us we might never know. Let's leave it at that and move on to the actual dish as we know it. It is interesting to see how this dish came to exist, but the point has been made and there is no sense debating what the word "tari" really means. BTW, I too think that Hector meant Sumac when he wrote samak. Elie

Sunday: Pork shoulder (with extra thick skin) cooked in the sandpot for hours with salted black beans, mushroom soy sauce, soy sauce, orange juice and zest, garlic, ginger, carrots, scallions.... Served with white steamed rice. Last night: Bouchon's amazing quiche, filled with mushrooms potatoes and onions. Served with a green salad tossed in some sharp Dijon vinaigrette. Elie

I just sampled a few tablespoons of both the Vin De noix and the nocino yesterday, it's been more than a month since they have been aging. Remember the sweetness I was afraid of in my Vin, well it's more or less gone. Instead the falvor is amazing, very earthy, slightly sweet and rich, with a mild undertone of walnut. The spices in there are present but not overpowering so I opted to keep them in. The Nocino's flavor profile is very different. In addition to the much higher alcohol (this needs some dilution), the walnut flavor is much more present, probably due to the higher alcohol that coaxed more soluble walnut oils out. The sweetness of the Nocino is also more evident than the Vin and I can detect the faint flavors of lemon peel and cloves in the background. Overall I am very pleased with the results so far and am looking forward to the final results. Elie

OK the medieval recipe is called "Samak Tari Mahshi" (Stuffed fresh fish). The stuffing is (approximately). 50 gms of sumac* 20 gms of dry thyme 12.5 gms peeled, finely chopped garlic 25 gms of walnuts mix these Adjust flavour with cassia (USA cinnamon), caraway, mastic, tahini, lemon juice, parsley and mint. Stuff the fish, smear with saffron and bake. * This refers to whole sumac berries, so I think that the amount of ground sumac would have to be adjusted down. It also seems like a lot of garlic compared to walnut meat. ← "Samak Tari Mahshi" (Stuffed fresh fish) Samak is fish Mahshi is stuffed but Tari is not fresh. As matter of fact, Tari means soft and to my knowledge, here the recipe is drawing your attention to soft water fish v sea water fish. My 2ct. ← Let's not debate language again but Tari does mean fresh or tender, depending on where you are from, the context and so on. So if you go to the fishmonger and ask for "samak tari" it means fresh fish, same as "samak taza". In this case it seems that this specific recipe is talking about fresh not tender fish, since tender fish makes no sense. Elie

Smithy, there is a HUGE variation in recipes for this dish. I looked around a little and what I'm planning to do looks a lot like this: Link I really loved the garnish I had at our friends' house, so I will add caramelized onion and toasted pine nuts after it is baked. As for type of fish, you want a white-fleshed sea fish. In a pinch cod filets would be a lot better than oily fish like tuna or salmon. You'll get the best results with red snapper, if you can find it. ← I did this last night for dinner, and (as usual) ran into questions when it was too late to ask. First question: The recipe in the link above calls for 1 chili pepper. Ahm, what kind? How big? How hot? I have some dried shatta from Egypt that I was afraid would overpower the dish. I ended up substituting a tablespoon of paprika (mostly hot, some sweet, mixed) to get a bit of heat without burning our taste buds. Second: how thin is the tahina supposed to be? Thin enough that you can pour it onto the fish? I had to plop mine onto the fish with a spoon, and then try to spread it. I think if it had been thinner it would have looked more artistic - although the flavor was fine. All in all this was nice. I used red snapper filets. I wasn't crazy about the flavor of the fish when it was all finished; to me it tasted maybe a little old, maybe a little overcooked. My husband loved the fish as it was. The sauce was quite good, and we had to laugh: he'd have liked a bit less lemon and more tahina; I was squeezing extra lemon on overall! This is fairly typical of our respective tastes, though. What intrigued me was that I used a lot more cilantro than the recipe calls for, and still couldn't taste it unless I tasted *for* it. Then, if was tasting for it, I could detect a subtle hint of that herb. It added a nice background flavor without shouting everything else down. Overall, we both liked this dish and I will do it again, but probably with some fish that didn't have to be frozen quite so long before eating. (Maybe a northern pike, which wouldn't have to be frozen at all.) I would like some advice on what type of pepper would be typical. Finally, next time I'll remember about the garnish. That sounds lovely. ← Unfortunatly, I could not get fresh whole snapper this past weekend. The 2 places I tried here in Hosuton said that boats did not go out because of the hurricane so no fresh catch. So, this has to wait for a few more days. Sorry. Smithy, I am glad you took the first stab at it and I will try and answer your questions. Concerning the chillies, use what you want and however much you like. The fish should be pretty spicy. For example my wife cannot tolerate hot stuff so the one I make is usually pretty mild, unless I am cooking for myself only. The Tahini sauce should be pourable not pasty, any decent taratoor (tahini sauce)should be pourable. In this case make loosen it with enough lemon juice and/or water to have the consistency of heavy cream. Elie

Here is the link to this week's W&D. Actually it was the very last comment in the article that I thought was amusing, the one about Chipotle Mexican Grill serving real SF burritos. If that is what a SF burrito is like, I pity those who know no better. IMO, Freebird's and Mission Burrito both make a much better version. Elie

Ok, that stuf with the fruit looks amazing! So, what's sugo? Is it the name for small tapioca pearls? Can I use Tapioca instead? Elie

Eden- The starwberry ice cream looks great! Did you freeze any or was it all consumed? If you did, how did it freeze? Elie

Exactly! For a slightly different texture, I've also pan fried the fish fillets once to give them a nice crust, then topped with the stuffing that has been stir fried a bit to warm it. Then top the whole thing with the warmed tahini sauce. Elie

Almass can you elaborate a little please? IS the fish actually stuffed then fried? that does not sound feasible. Also, all the ones I have had are made with walnuts in the stuffing including the ones I've seen in cookbooks and the ones my family makes, not pinenuts. Was your experience different? On another note, Bahamoth's recipe sounds pretty close to what I do and I would think it is a good starting point. Elie

The 2 fish I use here in Houston, TX are red snapper or sea bass. Either one is good, but any white fleshed fish with a firm texture and low oil content will be fine. Avoid stuff like salmon, mackerel, Tuna. I would even think some fresh trout that have been deboned would make for a very nice personal serving fish. Elie

There is no sense in waiting since we all want to start discussing Samke Harra. I started the thread here and moved some of the posts to it. Please let us discuss it over there. Thanks, Elie

Samke Harra is one awsome dish, Basically it is baked whole fish (sometimes lighlty fried first), stuffed with a mixture of chilies, walnuts, cilantro and garlic. The final and very importatnt touch is to top it with a good dose of Tahini sauce (tahini, lemon, garlic,...). It is a truly amazing dish that is not hard to make but sure seems like it. hmm..maybe we should have a Samke Harr cookoff thread? Actually when cooking for my wife and I, I often sub fish fillet for the whole fish, but the real deal is much more dramatic. Ok, I will do my best to make Samke Harra this weekend and start the thread. I do not really use a recipe so if it is ok I would rather wait and I will post the recipe once the thread is up and I am sure it works. If someone wants anything sooner, then I’ll type up some basic instructions and we can go from there. BTW, as far as I know the dish also exists with the same name in Syria, but I am not sure about anywhere else. Elie

Smithy- That is a very odd way to eat, for a Lebanese at least! Usually the guests and hosts will be more than happyu in sharing a meal, a very large meal. Samke Harra is one awsome dish, Basically it is baked whole fish (sometimes lighlty fried first), stuffed with a mixture of chilies, walnuts, cilantro and garlic. The final and very importatnt touch is to top it with a good dose of Tahini sauce (tahini, lemon, garlic,...). It is a truly amazing dish that is not hard to make but sure seems like it. hmm..maybe we should have a Samke Harr cookoff thread? Actually when cooking for my wife and I, I often sub fish fillet for the whole fish, but the real deal is much more dramatic. Elie

Kevin- Actually FTV usually airs Cook's Tour on most Sunday afternoons. I have seen it several times. Elie

Due to copyright issues I cannot post a recipe from a cookbook on the forums. We can communicate about it via PM instead. Elie

leftovers from the b-day party again, but a little "kicked up". I chopped up the chicken and potatoes and garlic, defrosted some filo dough and made a chicken strudel and topped it with the lemony garlicky sauce from the pan I baked the chicken in. Served it with the last of the chickpea salad. Came out quiet awsome Dessert- Since I had the filo dough out, I made some baklava. Boy is is this stuff addictive.

No pictures of Abu Fadi and the sandwich ? Can you elaborate a little on the octopus sandwich what was in it? How did it taste? Was it big enough ? It's so funny, every visit to Lebanon, for the first day or two is almost a replica of what you just stated. Elie